Folding chairs have long been used to provide a storable means of providing seating for visiting guests at family and home gatherings. They are also used in commercial, civic and social settings to accommodate attendees at weddings, conventions, seminars and conferences. The folding chair of the prior art used for the foregoing purposes suffers from the deficit that that chair is designed to accommodate an occupant in one specific sitting position. Usually the sitting position offered by the prior art folding chair represents a hybrid position somewhere between that offered by a dining table chair (18-inch seat height) and that offered by a more reclined and lower, easy-chair position. In this respect, the prior art folding chair can only be comfortably and practically used in conjunction with a card table (26-inch table height).
U.S. Pat. No. 6,305,742 discloses a typical folding chair known in the prior art. With this type of chair, the rear of the seat component is pivotally attached to a rigid frame. The rigid frame constitutes the back component of the chair and the two forward extending legs of the chair. When the chair is configured for the sitting position, the legs of the frame respectively emanate from the rear of the seat component from their pivot points and extend downwardly and forward to the floor below the front of the seat component. The back component of the frame typically has an attached back rest. As noted, these type chairs are generally adapted for use with portable, folding card tables of lower height than a typical dining table, which has a table height of thirty inches. Hence, the folding chair of the prior art is not the proper height for a dining chair. As such, the prior art folding chair does not allow for use in a dining setting as it does not allow: a) the occupant to sit at a seat height level appropriate for a dining table; and b) the occupant to sit at a height level commensurate with other diners at the table. Nor does the prior art folding chair provide the comfort of a chair that one would find in a family den or living room with a height appropriate for an end table (cocktail) table.